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CNX Gas Starts Utica Well in Meander Reservoir Watershed

The third Utica Shale well to be drilled in Mahoning County, Ohio is set to begin any day now. The well is being drilled by CNX Gas (subsidiary of CONSOL Energy). While the fact that a new well is being drilled may not seem like news (it’s the third well to be drilled in Mahoning County), where it’s being drilled in the county is big news: in the watershed of the Meander Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 300,000 people in the Mahoning Valley.

When completed, this will be a great example of the fact that drilling and fracking is safe—even in watershed areas (pay attention New York):

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CONSOL Exec Says Utica Pipelines are Critical Need

Harry Schurr, general manager of Utica operations for CONSOL Energy’s CNX Gas, puts pipelines at the top of his wish list for what he needs in the Utica Shale. Schurr made the following comments a day after the NEXUS Gas Transmission was announced last week:

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Pennsylvania’s Top 10 Marcellus Drillers in 2011

NOTE: The facts and figures below were cited from a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article. MDN has been contacted by several of the drilling companies in the list to let us know the numbers in some cases are not at all accurate. MDN is attempting to verify now (Feb 28) and will correct these numbers as soon as the raw data can be further analyzed.

top 10In 2011, Marcellus drilling expanded exponentially in Pennsylvania. According to the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), companies drilled 2,755 Marcellus shale gas wells in Pennsylvania in 2011, up from 1,386 in 2010. That’s nearly a 200 percent increase (or doubling) in one year alone.

Below are the top 10 Marcellus drillers in Pennsylvania ranked by amount of gas produced. Included are some other bits of information (PA figures only) to give you an idea of the size and scope of that company’s operation in the PA Marcellus. (mcf = thousand cubit feet)

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CONSOL/CNX Gas Will Drill Two Dozen Horizontal Marcellus Gas Wells in 2010, Now Holds Leases on 760,000 Acres

Highlights from the CONSOL Energy quarterly earnings report as it touches on their operations in the Marcellus Shale:

On March 15, CONSOL Energy announced a $3.475 billion acquisition of the Appalachian gas exploration and production business of Dominion Resources. We expect to close the transaction tomorrow. The assets include approximately 1 trillion cubic feet of proved reserves and approximately 500,000 acres of Marcellus Shale. Additional assets include an overriding royalty interest from farm-outs, 300,000 acres of Huron Shale, and extensive Utica Shale acreage.

On March 22, CONSOL Energy announced its intention to acquire the approximately 25 million shares of CNX Gas that it does not already own for $38.25 per share. We commenced the tender offer on April 28. As previously announced, T.Rowe Price has already agreed to tender the 9.47 million shares held for its investment advisory clients into the offer at the offer price of $38.25 per share.

During the quarter, CNX Gas achieved record initial production from one of its latest Marcellus Shale wells. Well GH 2B CV, has averaged 5.0 MMcf per day for the first 47 days of production. It peaked at 5.7 MMcf per day. This well has a lateral of 2,300 feet.*

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Major Transaction: CONSOL Energy Buys Dominion Resources Appalachian Business, Including Marcellus Gas Operations, for $3.475 Billion

CONSOL Energy of Pittsburgh today announced it is buying the Appalachian exploration and production operation of Dominion Resources. Dominion’s Marcellus Shale drilling operations are part of the transaction. CONSOL is paying $3.475 billion in cash.

Dominion currently has leases on approximately 500,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale. Added to CONSOL’s existing 250,000 acres (which belong to CNX Gas, another CONSOL company), the new total acreage controlled by CONSOL will be 750,000. Dominion’s large Marcellus acreage was one of the key attractions for CONSOL.

The total acreage CONSOL is buying from Dominion for both oil and gas totals 1.46 million acres, along with 9,000 active oil and gas wells. Dominion’s operation was once part of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil company.

CONSOL will add 193 employees from Dominion’s Appalachian operation to its own payroll when the deal closes, which is expected to happen at the end of April.

For more details, see the press release:
CONSOL Energy to Acquire Dominion’s Appalachian E&P Business for $3.475 Billion In Cash

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CONSOL Energy COO DeIuliis Says Marcellus Drilling has Potential to “Reshape Western PA Economy”

Nicholas DeIuliis, the Chief Operating Officer of CONSOL Energy Inc., spoke to a leadership group at the Rivers Club in Downtown Pittsburgh today. Among the things he said:

“Five years ago, no one knew how to spell Marcellus Shale,” DeIuliis, who is also president and COO of CNX Gas Corp., a part of CONSOL, said. But now, the natural gas reserve has the potential to reshape western Pennsylvania’s economy. He projected that by 2020, 175,000 jobs would be created from the Shale, and state and local tax revenue would be in the neighborhood of $1.4 billion.

“These are jobs that require serious levels of training, they’re not minimum wage jobs,” he said. “There’s a lot to be excited about in the Marcellus Shale.”*

*Pittsburgh Business Times (Mar 2) – CONSOL COO Nicholas DeIuliis: Marcellus has changed everything

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CNX Gas Corp. chief: Slow down or stop gas drilling

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Oct 3):
CNX Gas Corp. chief: Slow down or stop gas drilling

Gas prices are depressed right now. The question is, how long will it go on? While prices are low, CNX Gas CEO Nick DeIuliis says drillers have to remember to be good business people and slow down or stop drilling to reign in costs. What does that mean for landowners? Will drilling slow down or stop any time soon? Good questions to ponder. A good article to read to give you an update on gas prices on the commodities market and the overall drilling landscape.